BILL NUMBER: SB 1520	CHAPTERED  09/30/00

	CHAPTER   994
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 28, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 23, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 27, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 27, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Schiff

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 21628 and 21630 of the Business and
Professions Code, relating to secondhand goods.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1520, Schiff.  Secondhand dealers:  coin dealers:  reporting.
   Existing law requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, on
forms either approved or provided at actual cost by the Department of
Justice, to report daily all tangible personal property purchased,
taken in trade or pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or for
auctioning, to the chief of police or sheriff.  That report, unless
otherwise agreed upon by the parties, is required to be submitted by
mail.  A violation of these reporting requirements, as well as other
provisions that regulate the secondhand and coin dealer businesses,
is a crime.
   This bill would require the department, in consultation with local
law enforcement agencies, to develop clear and comprehensive
descriptive categories for this property and to develop, also in
consultation with these agencies as well as with representatives of
the secondhand and coin dealer businesses, a format that secondhand
and coin dealers would be required to use to electronically report
these property transactions.  This bill would exempt from this
electronic reporting requirement a coin dealer who engages in less
than 10 transactions each week each consisting of not more than one
item, as defined, in which he or she purchases, takes in trade or
pawn, or accepts for sale, consignment, or auction tangible personal
property.  The bill would require these coin dealers to report by
mail or facsimile transmission these transactions under the
categories and on a form developed for this purpose by the Attorney
General.
   Because this bill would specify particular reporting methods for
secondhand and coin dealers, it would expand the scope of an existing
crime and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 21628 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   21628.  Every secondhand dealer or coin dealer described in
Section 21626 shall report daily, or on the first working day after
receipt or purchase of the property, on forms either approved or
provided at actual cost by the Department of Justice, all tangible
personal property which he or she has purchased, taken in trade,
taken in pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or accepted for
auctioning, to the chief of police or to the sheriff, in accordance
with the provisions of Sections 21630 and 21633 and subdivision (j)
of this section.  The report shall be legible, prepared in English,
completed where applicable, and include, but not be limited to, the
following information:
   (a) The name and current address of the intended seller or pledgor
of the property.
   (b) The identification of the intended seller or pledgor.  The
identification of the seller or pledgor of the property shall be
verified by the person taking the information.  The verification
shall be valid if the person taking the information reasonably relies
on any one of the following documents, provided that the document is
currently valid or has been issued within five years and contains a
photograph or description, or both, of the person named on it, is
signed by the person, and bears a serial or other identifying number:

   (1) A passport of the United States.
   (2) A driver's license issued by any state, or Canada.
   (3) An identification card issued by any state.
   (4) An identification card issued by the United States.
   (5) A passport from any other country in addition to another item
of identification bearing an address.
   (c) A complete and reasonably accurate description of serialized
property, including, but not limited to, the following:  serial
number and other identifying marks or symbols, owner-applied numbers,
manufacturer's named brand, and model name or number.  Watches need
not be disassembled when special skill or special tools are required
to obtain the required information, unless specifically requested to
do so by a peace officer.  A special tool does not include a
penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument and disassembling a watch
with a penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument does not constitute
a special skill.  In all instances where the required information
may be obtained by removal of a watchband, then the watchband shall
be removed.  The cost associated with opening the watch shall be
borne by the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or customer.
   (d) A complete and reasonably accurate description of
nonserialized property, including, but not limited to, the following:
  size, color, material, manufacturer's pattern name (when known),
owner-applied numbers and personalized inscriptions and other
identifying marks or symbols.  Watches need not be disassembled when
special skill or special tools are required to obtain the required
information, unless specifically requested to do so by a peace
officer.  A special tool does not include a penknife, caseknife, or
similar instrument and disassembling a watch with a penknife,
caseknife, or similar instrument does not constitute a special skill.
  In all instances where the required information may be obtained by
removal of a watchband, then the watchband shall be removed.  The
cost associated with opening the watch shall be borne by the
pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or customer.
   (e) A certification by the intended seller or pledgor that he or
she is the owner of the property or has the authority of the owner to
sell or pledge the property.
   (f) A certification by the intended seller or pledgor that to his
or her knowledge and belief the information is true and complete.
   (g) A legible fingerprint taken from the intended seller or
pledgor, as prescribed by the Department of Justice.  This
requirement does not apply to a coin dealer, unless required pursuant
to local regulation.
   (h) When a secondhand dealer complies with all of the provisions
of this section, he or she shall be deemed to have received from the
seller or pledgor adequate evidence of authority to sell or pledge
the property for all purposes included in this article, and Division
8 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Financial Code.
   In enacting this subdivision, it is the intent of the Legislature
that its provisions shall not adversely affect the implementation of,
or prosecution under, any provision of the Penal Code.
   (i) Any person who conducts business as a secondhand dealer at any
gun show or event, as defined in Section 178.100 of Title 27 of the
Code of Federal Regulations, or its successor, outside the
jurisdiction that issued the secondhand dealer license in accordance
with subdivision (d) of Section 21641, may be required to submit a
duplicate of the transaction report prepared pursuant to this section
to the local law enforcement agency where the gun show or event is
conducted.
   (j) (1) The Department of Justice shall, in consultation with
appropriate local law enforcement agencies, develop clear and
comprehensive descriptive categories denoting tangible personal
property subject to the reporting requirements of this section.
These categories shall be incorporated by secondhand dealers and coin
dealers described in Section 21626 for purposes of the reporting
requirements set forth herein.  Any required report shall be
transmitted by electronic means.  The Department of Justice and local
law enforcement agencies, in consultation with representatives from
the secondhand dealer and coin dealer businesses, shall develop a
standard format to be used statewide to transmit this report
electronically.
   (2) Twelve months after the format and the categories described in
paragraph (1) have been developed, each secondhand dealer and coin
dealer shall electronically report using this format the information
required by this section under these reporting categories.  Until
that time, each secondhand dealer and coin dealer may either continue
to report this information using existing forms and procedures or
may begin electronically reporting this information under the
reporting categories and using the format described in paragraph (1)
as soon as each has been developed.
   (3) A coin dealer who engages in less than 10 transactions each
week in which he or she has purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn,
accepted for sale or consignment, or accepted for auctioning
tangible personal property, shall report the information required by
this section under the reporting categories described in paragraph
(1) on a form developed by the Attorney General that the coin dealer
shall transmit each day by facsimile transmission or by mail to the
chief of police or sheriff.  A transaction shall consist of not more
than one item.  Nothing in this section shall prohibit up to 10
transactions with the same customer per week, provided that the
cumulative total per week for all customers does not exceed 10
transactions.  Until that form is developed, these coin dealers shall
continue to report information required by this section using
existing forms and procedures.  If these transactions increase to 10
per week, the coin dealer shall electronically report using the
format described in paragraph (1) the information required by this
section beginning six months after his or her transactions exceed 10
per week or 12 months after the format described in paragraph (1) has
been developed, whichever occurs later.
   (4) For purposes of this subdivision, "item" shall mean any single
physical article.  However, with respect to a commonly accepted
grouping of articles that are purchased as a set, including, but not
limited to, a pair of earrings or place settings of china,
silverware, or other tableware, "item" shall mean that commonly
accepted grouping.
   (5) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as excepting a
secondhand dealer from the fingerprinting requirement of subdivision
(g).
  SEC. 2.  Section 21630 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   21630.  If the transaction takes place within the territorial
limits of an incorporated city, the report shall be submitted to the
police chief executive of the city or his or her designee.  If the
transaction takes place outside the territorial limits of an
incorporated city, the report shall be submitted to the sheriff of
the county or his or her designee.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
